Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,371 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 527 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $19,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $82.36 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $129.93. The stock has a market cap of $206.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.22 and a 200-day moving average of $87.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.